Perched atop a hill overlooking the Beauly Firth in Inverness, the Clachnaharry Monument commemorates a particularly fierce battle between Clan Munro and Clan Chattan that occurred in 1454. After a day of sunbathing (in April) in the Highlands, I decided to take advantage of the unusually warm evening and take a walk out to the […]
Last Friday Amanda and I attended the memorial service for James Charles Macnab of Macnab, 23rd Chief of Clan Macnab. The memorial was held in the Killin Kirk, followed by interment of the ashes of James and his wife Diana on the ancient Macnab burial island of Innis Bhuidhe. The journey from Edinbugh to Killin […]
When asked to give the name of his nearest mainline rail station on a Parliamentary expenses questionnaire, former liberal MP for Orkney Jo Grimond gave his reply as Bergen, Norway. This facetious response turned out to be correct, as Bergen’s rail station is situated 340km from the Orkney constituency, compared with the Highland Main Line […]
Around Edinburgh at the moment signs of the post-festive season are evident, and life is slowly returning to normal. Discarded, tired Christmas trees lie on the pavements waiting patiently for someone to come and remove them, tram preparation has resumed on Princes Street after Hogmanay celebrations, and pubs seem to be quieter than usual as […]
New Zealand is a rather funny wee place. One of its defining features is the mishmash of cultures from all around the world that have gathered together on a few tiny islands far away in the depths of the South Pacific. You can find a sushi bar on almost every street corner, you’ll see men […]
We have just returned from two amazing weeks spent in Barcelona, Spain. We enjoyed the comfort of a family home during our stay and on our return were welcomed back to our home with a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates, our house all neat and tidy (not like we normally leave it […]
While doing a little bit of research the other day I came across the story of a very interesting Scottish character Arthur Furguson. Here is his story: One sunny morning in 1923 a wealthy American tourist from Iowa was standing in Trafalgar Square gazing with admiration at Nelsons Column. A very well dressed and polite […]
The small village of Arisaig lies on Scotlands West coast to the North West of the town of Fort William. The name ‘Arisaig’ means ‘safe place’. This remote part of Scotland is steeped in history and in particular the history around that most troublesome period known as the Jacobite Rebellions. When ‘Bonny Prince Charlie’ began […]
Yesterday I decided to take a long walk, over from Ballachulish to where we were camping near Duror. It was a magnificent day and here are some photos from my trip. The journey started in Ballachulish. This small town has become well known for the slate which was quarried here from the late 1600s onwards […]
An Icelandic ‘travel guide’ from the 13th century gave warning to any Viking thinking of heading to ‘Skotland’ to do a bit of plundering that they should be wary of the aggressive natives with their incomprehensible language, and, of course, the country’s dreadful weather. This information was gathered from the experiences of a number of […]
